I’m back baby! Right now, my Druid Financial Officer is updating his Auctioneer data.

It’s good to be back.

A few weeks ago I put three or four nights worth into making a Snake game (in Clarion no less).

Along with the snake game, I stumbled over some larger concepts. Profiles, Games, Stats .. I’m gradually building a very simple statistics application that holds games within it.

Here’s the plan:

• The primary focus in on the Profile.
• You must select a Profile before you play a game.
• The stats are linked to the Profile.
• The stats can be sent up to the servers for global rankings (again, very simple).
• The game(s) respond to various intelligence on the stats.
• Haven’t played the game, get Message 1
• Have played the game five times, get Message 2
• Have played the game a hundred times, get Message 3
• There are a number of simple games. Clones of existing ones to begin with. The Snake Clone is mostly done. Tetris. Jezzball.
• The Snake Clone
• Has completely modifiable levels. These are incredibly simple though.
• Food needed to finish Level.
• Number of Walls in the Level.
• Levels are built within the database (Official) OR from XML files (Non-Official).

Of course, these are really simple elements. Trivial.

The point is to get complex pieces of functionality done within a simple system. In a simple and clean manner. Without hundreds of variables.

At least, that’s the plan at the moment. Might be different tomorrow.

Depths of Peril is a great game.

I started a few characters, and then settled on the Rogue. I was blazing along, and after a while, started wiping out the other Covenants in town.

The iron was hot. I smashed em all, except one. Not sure why I left this sucker alone, but I was so far ahead in the ranking that it didn’t seem a problem.

Now, they are so far ahead of me that I’m not sure if I can do better.

The moral of this story? Strike! Don’t worry about making the game longer than it is. Characters carry onwards into new games.

Also, don’t name your female Rogue “Abel”.

I pretty much loathe shows like 60 minutes (at least, the aussie version).

But tonight, I flipped channels and saw bears. Big Black and Grizzly Bears.

 

The story was of a man named Charlie Vandergaw.

 

This is what the man who made his home as a hunter of bears, and then was transformed into a friend of bears, said (paraphrase).

You call working in an office till your 70 a life? If I can have enjoyment from building my home out here, if I can do this .. This is living. The other is merely existing.

It was a pretty awesome segment. At least, the guy and the bears were. Didn’t think much of the reporter (Liam Bartlett). At times he seemed disdainful of Charlie, but his demeanor could have been explained because he also seemed to be packing his dacks constantly. I understand bears can rip you apart .. ahhh, but anyway. I digress.

Charlie the Bear Man made another very clear point. A few years back, a man who was the defender of bears, who went and camped out in the wild, doing Steve Irwin stuff, was killed. Eaten alive by bears.

Charlie, the old (not so much) man who is alive today, said that what he does (from within sight of his house, and has done for many many years) is as different as night and day to the bear naturalist.

The bear naturalist went into the wild, he invaded the territory of the bears. What Charlie does, has done, is establish his own territory. He was a hunter. And one day, at his (the very same) house, a bear approached, crawling on it’s belly. From there, this amazing story of relationships between man and beast took off.

Here’s the google search for Charlie. Currently the channel Nine website doesn’t have a story transcript up, but here’s the link for if it does.

After a big weekend, I found this man, Charlie, and his story very refreshing. Thought I’d share it.